With the recent increase in network computing applications, wireless information transfer, and internet applications, the number of applications for which data processing systems are employed has increased correspondingly. Mobile computing units such as personal digital assistants (PDA), notebook and laptop personal computers (PCs) have become increasingly popular due to their portability and increased functionality.
Many of such mobile computing units are handheld devices, or palm-size devices, which comfortably fit within, or can be carried by one hand. For example, one commercially available mobile device is sold under the trade name HandHeld PC (or H/PC). Such units are generally assembled by enclosing internal electrical components, such as a central processing unit (CPU) board, display, keyboard, and internal wiring, within a housing made of plastic or another structural material. A communication interface is also provided and is commonly used to communicate with an associated network.
Among the most prevalent of network connection types is a wireless network, typically implemented using an IEEE 802.11x protocol, sometimes referred to as WiFi. However, in order for these devices to be able to access and communicate over the wireless network, the devices usually have to be pre-configured with a variety of network access parameters including a network identifier and a network key, among others.
The need to pre-configure devices with network access parameters presents at least two problems. First, a method or methods for configuring network access parameters frequently varies from device to device. Second, each device usually has to be individually configured so that the task of configuring a large number of devices can be prohibitively time-consuming. The magnitude of both these problems is compounded in cases when a network administrator needs to configure devices to access more than one wireless network. In some cases, a device may be incapable of being configured to access more than one wireless network.
Additionally, errors in device configuration can cause problems in running applications in one or more computers within the network system. At the same time, applications which are run by users typically do not include sophisticated methods for identifying and correcting network related errors. In particular, because inadvertent erroneous configurations are typically not identified for the application by the network, no corrective action can be taken. This results in confusion and frustration for consumers, who must then call support professionals to help solve their application problems. Moreover, although users may save static configuration settings for each network and subsequently apply them manually, manual processes are both error prone and time consuming.
Therefore, there is a need to overcome the aforementioned exemplary deficiencies associated with conventional devices.